


it didn't have to happen like this.

by Taloned_Hawk



Series: the babes of dragon age [2]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Angst, Elf, Elvhen, F/F, Flashbacks, Fluff, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Game(s), Trespasser, Trespasser DLC
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-28
Updated: 2017-12-28
Packaged: 2019-02-22 22:59:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13177008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Taloned_Hawk/pseuds/Taloned_Hawk
Summary: "Why did it have to happen?""How did it end this way?""It didn't have to happen like this."Her dearest Ma'Lailani was lost to her, and she will be damned if she does not find her.





	it didn't have to happen like this.

**Author's Note:**

> This fiction work does not actually focus on our lovely Inquisitor, instead on his cousin, a companion named Olivia Trevelyan.   
> This begins right before the events of Trespasser, will touch briefly with it, and then focus more on the finale then anything, along with a few flashbacks and introspective musings from the author.   
> Do leave a comment- I love those! <3

A thin strip of moonlight broke through the clouds, dancing down through the open window and onto the stone floor, piercing the darkness that sat heavy. Even though the air was cold enough to freeze the Fade, the bare women sat unflinching. Sat hunched on the bed, her lean fingers twitching as small bits of electricity danced between them. It had been terribly long since her dearest left her, and she had just returned from an expedition to attempt to find her not two nights earlier. From the deepest reaches of the Hinterlands to the small ruins that her Inquisitor had found the elf in and no sign of the fair creature. She had returned empty-handed, bloody, and without the men she had traversed with. New wounds littered her mauled body as she shifted into a standing position, compelled to go and gaze out the window. 

The moonlight was slowly fading into the dawn’s early light, the castle basked in grey. A small glimmer caught her attention in her peripherals, a whisper of a word making her heart into her throat. Whipping around and alighting a ball of electricity in her hand, the mage let out a strangled cry as she stared at her door. Nobody was there. She wasn’t there. The elf she had grown to love was dead, murdered-

Sunlight beaming through the tent’s thin walls, casting the small room in a pale orange glow. A soft face pressed into her breast, arms wrapped around her waist with a possessiveness only rivaled by a Dragon herself. The shout from the Inquisitor breaking the sleepy silence, the small elf moving her head up to press a kiss to Olivia’s jaw. 

-Or perhaps she herself was betrayed? The elf was new, after all, and they had only just met when the Inquisitor brought her back like a lost dog with Solas. She and Solas were very, very close, so perhaps she was leading her on the entire time?- 

_“Aralan, it is time to wake up.” The elven mage whispered, her companion groaning and covering her eye with the back of her hand. Eye opening and a small, sleepy smile coming over her face as she turned to press a kiss to the shorter elf’s forehead. “Five more minutes, m’love.” The words, sleepy and slurred, came from her own scarred lips, drawing a giggle from the other’s._

-She wasn’t careful, after all. She was known for taking risks and not truly knowing anything about the modern culture. Perhaps she had wandered too far into Tevinter territory and was snatched up by some magister and was forced into slavery like all the others. Hell, perhaps even by their Marquis’ own family-

_Another shout filled the cool morning air. “We don’t have five minutes, unfortunately.” came the reply, Olivia letting go of the promise of sleep and sitting up. Her body curved and twisted, shuffling so she was facing away from the other women, a modest arm coming up to cover her bare chest. There were a few shuffles, and her love was crouched in front of her, hand coming to cup her cheek. “I love you.”_

_“And I you, Laila.”_

“Ma’Lailani.” The word come out as a strangled cry, eye welling up with tears as she collapsed. Her body slammed against the stone wall, sliding against it with no concern over the scrapes that would soon marr her fair skin. The ball of electricity was snuffed out in an instant, charring the wall black with its presence as she began to sob. The world started to spin too quickly for her to stay put, the ground swaying until she collapsed onto her side, body shaking as another cry left her body. 

The world went quiet, her own blood pounding in her ears as she curled in on herself. Her vision swam, losing the new sharpness it had gained from Ma’Lailani’s prosthetic she had given her. Olivia needed to get away, to crawl into the library and drink herself into a stupor. Dorian would provide the needed bottles and not ask questions. She couldn’t breathe, and thus she could not walk to even get the blasted bottles. Her throat, lashed with a deep scar from a Wyvern’s lucky strike, constricted as bile threatened to rise up. She spluttered and coughed, a soft wail crawling out of her cracked lips. She needed to calm down, needed to breathe. 

Cupping her own cheek with a shaking hand, she forced herself to straighten out from her curled position, body creaking in protest as she did. She slowly rose, teetering slightly before propping herself onto her bedframe and using it as a guide as she shuffled over to get her armor on. The dawn had fully encompassed the moon, the sky opening up in a brilliant amber. The rays, bright and filled with hope, burned away the night’s cold mist and rose it into fog, the air becoming a cool damp. The noise that roared in her ears dulled into its usual quiet hum, the silence of the room broken by the sound of her clasping on her armor. 

Her reflection caught in the dull mirror hanging on the wall, inadvertently jumping at the sudden sight of herself. The broken women in the mirror stared back at her, loathing and incomplete. The red piece of cloth that held her prosthetic changed that. It was the last object that her Ma’Lai gave her, and it was promptly tied around her neck under her armor. It peaked out, a brilliant scarlet against her pale skin. A new hope filled her as she gave her own reflection a brisk nod, flinging open the wooden door that lead to the rest of Skyhold open and stepping out into the chilled morning. 

She stalked through Skyhold, eyes narrowed into determined slits as she climbed the stairs to the main courtroom, ignoring the passerby she usually gave warm welcomes to. Her boots clicked through the empty corridor, not even bothering to knock as she flung open the double doors to the conference. Cassandra was the first to notice her arrival, turning with her hand on her sword and eyes widening a bit at the intrusion. Cullen stared at the mage with widened eyes, a protest forming on his lips as he looked up from the large War Table. The man of the hour stood a bit straighter at her arrival, eyes narrowed and lips curling into a dismissive smile as Olivia entered. 

“Olivia, we are in the middle of a private discussion, as you can see, so it would be fantastic if you left-”

“I’m going with you to Orlais.” The words were out of her mouth in an instant, short and to the point. Her cousin was taken aback by this, eyes widening a bit from their slitted stance, his hand moving to brush his long locks from his face. A question began to form on his lips, but she had no time for his excuses. The Tevinter was a master at coercion, and she didn’t feel the need to have to sing for him to give her a sub-par answer. “You might as well say yes, Innane, and not waste your time on excuses. 

A smile formed back on his lips as he crossed his arms, the anchor casting an ominous glow into the map. The shadows of the knife that still dug into its surface struck a chord in Olivia, eyes flicking to avoid looking at the blasted thing at all costs. “What happened to my shy, timid cousin? I remember when you pretended to be ill to avoid going to the Winter Palace not two years ago.”

“I grew up.”

**Author's Note:**

> Character information:
> 
> \- Innane "Marquis" Gahalled- The Inquisitor hailing from Tevinter. Moved to Orlais at the height of his adolescence. Mage.  
> \- Olivia Trevelyan- "Cousin" to Innane, love to Ma'Lailani.   
> \- Ma'Lailani- Olivia's dearest.


End file.
